Another reason to avoid welfare beef!

[Ithaca 37]

Welfare ranch beef goes to feedlots and gets possible exposure to mad cow disease!

"Consumers may also want to consider organic or grass-fed beef, since these cows are not fed any animal proteins."

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/27/opinion/27HANS.html

 

[Moosie]

I ran into a MAD cow once... It actually wasn't mad untill I tipped it over, Appenently they sleep while Standing !!! HUmmmm Who would have TH~unked ?

 

[Ten Bears]

How about a link I don't have to signup for.

 

[Ithaca 37]

Canada's Problem — and America's
By MICHAEL K. HANSEN


ONKERS
The discovery of a case of mad cow disease in Canada underlines the need for American officials to exercise much greater vigilance to prevent the emergence of this fatal brain-wasting disease in the United States. Live cattle, beef products and animal feed move relatively freely between the United States and Canada; last year the United States imported one billion pounds of beef from Canada. Unfortunately, the federal government's defenses are full of gaps.

Mad cow disease is one of several similar fatal brain diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. They are so named because of their main effect: the infected brain eventually becomes riddled with spongelike holes. The disease is believed to be caused by a mutant protein that, when eaten, travels through the body to the brain. The effect on the victim is always the same: mental deterioration and death.

There have been 100 confirmed deaths in Britain from the human form of mad cow disease, which is thought to be caused by eating tainted beef, and the number is rising. So far the United States has been lucky. But to prevent an outbreak, a number of steps need to be taken immediately.

First, we need to screen more cattle for the disease. Last year, the United States Department of Agriculture tested only 19,990 cows believed to be at risk for mad cow disease, out of a population of about 96 million. This sample is far too small to detect a problem that might be small but growing. The department should mandate the use of rapid tests, currently used in Europe, which have allowed testing of all cattle above a certain age at slaughter. Last year European regulators tested more than 10 million cattle for mad cow disease, out of a total population of some 40 million.

The Food and Drug Administration should also ban the feeding of all animal remains to food animals. At factory farms and feed lots, cattle, hogs and chickens eat a relatively high-protein diet, and much of this protein comes from the rendered remains of other cattle, hogs or chickens.

The European Union, for example, does not allow animal remains to be fed to any food animal. (In Britain, cows are believed to have been infected by eating sheep with scrapie, which is a form of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy.) But under the F.D.A.'s current rules, cattle remains can still be fed to other animals, such as pigs and chickens, whose remains can then be fed back to cows. Even the remains of an animal known to carry a form of mad cow disease could go into rendered feed, under F.D.A. rules.

More than just meat is at risk. Materials from some of the most potentially infectious parts of a cow, including brains, eyes and spleen, sometimes end up in dietary supplements. This fact, along with recent deaths associated with use of the dietary supplement ephedra, underlines the need for Congress to require dietary supplements to prove their safety before being marketed.

Despite all these efforts, an outbreak could still occur. If it does, we might not know for some time if Americans were becoming infected with a mad-cow-like disease at an increased rate — because it is not one of the diseases doctors and hospitals must report to the Centers for Disease Control. It should be made a mandatory reportable disease.

While the government considers what it can do, what should consumers do? The size of the risk is unknown, so it's hard to say. However, some foods are clearly more risky than others.

Since the most infectious material is to be found in the brains of cows, consumers could simply avoid them. Some processed beef products, like many sausages and hot dogs, are produced using machines that scour a cow carcass for all available meat. Since they may contain central nervous system tissue, some people may want to avoid them as well. A steak, or hamburger that the butcher grinds in front of you, carries the least risk. Consumers may also want to consider organic or grass-fed beef, since these cows are not fed any animal proteins.

The bottom line is that the government should act now to protect the food supply. Delay will only allow any potential problem to get worse.


Michael K. Hansen is a senior research associate at Consumers Union.

 

[Ten Bears]

Thank you for the source article.

Fear mongering again I see. What does the writer know about the disease or anything else, other then what he/she is told?

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR> U.S. agriculture officials temporarily banned all Canadian beef imports Tuesday after Canadian officials announced the diagnosis of the first case of mad cow disease in North America in a decade.... Cattle ranchers in Minnesota and elsewhere said they remained confident in the safeguards designed to stop the disease, also called bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). The disease is believed to be spread through feed containing mammal byproducts, banned in the United States and Canada since 1997.....An aggressive "firewall" system long has been in place to prevent the disease in the United States. Since 1989, the nation has banned imports of live animals and beef from countries that have diagnosed the disease..... In 1997, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned the use of feed products containing meat and bone meal from cattle. Feeding cattle mammal byproducts was one way the disease became epidemic in Britain, officials said. Canada enacted such bans in 1997.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
http://www.startribune.com/stories/1551/3893316.html

 

[RockyDog]

My gawd man, I have never seen a bigger cow hater than you Ithaca.

Mad Cow disease and your so-called "welfare ranchers" are exclusive issues. Your attempts to demonize shit-azzes (aka cattle) is making you look like a fruit cake.

Otherwise you seem like an alright fellar.


Iea beef, its whats for supper.

 

[Ten Bears]

I'd say IT has said a few (not FEW) other things that have made him sound like a fruit cake (that's what's for Xmas).

 

[cjcj]

i just bought 80 lb`s of FILET MIGNON at 2 buck`s a pound! [marked down] i`m taking my chance`s HHHHMMMMMMM beef it`s what`s for dinner.

 

[Moosie]

BEEF, It's not what's for Dinner, We're having Pizza..... But tomorrow We're haveing Steak !!!!

BEEF, It's what's for tomorrows dinner

GOD I love the Sportsmans issues, I've learned alot today

 

[Ten Bears]

Idn't it gwate?

 

[Ithaca 37]

Rocky, "Mad Cow disease and your so-called "welfare ranchers" are exclusive issues. Your attempts to demonize shit-azzes (aka cattle) is making you look like a fruit cake."

Are you crazy? I go after the ATV crowd, Forest Service, BLM, Resource Extraction industries, anti wolf nuts, dams, poachers, fish hogs, golfers and just about anybody else I can think of on any given day!

But the Welfare Ranchers are one of my favorites---just because what they do is so indefensible.

And I love to see some of the welfare ranch defenders here try to justify an industry that has done more wildlife habitat damage in the West than all the others put together. And then they claim to be hunters and fishermen!

How about if you start a few topics and give me a rest?

 

[Ten Bears]

I'm sorry, did somebody try to say something? Didn't sound like an intellegent response to any of the questions posed here today.

 

[danr55]

Well, Let's see about those welfare ranchers... Seems like a long time ago that I posted the links to the grazing alottment assessments from Arizona. As I recall, they were showing just over 40% profit to the USG. Besides that, the ranchers put in water stops for the cattle which are also used by wildlife. That helps propogate the presence of such insignificant wild critters as Elk, Deer, Antelope (Although they aren't doing so well right now because of the coyote situation), Buffalo, and probably even a few bear, mountain lion, and various and sundry other species. So right now, I would estimate that some 30% of the huntable critters in Arizona owe their existance to "welfare ranchers".

I don't know, but that sounds defensable to me....

 

[cjcj]

like i`ve said before WATER is life in the desert, whether it comes from a welfare rancher`s stocktank or a natural spring, i have to agree with dan55 here.

 

[Ithaca 37]

Maybe in the desert of AZ an occaisional stock tank helps, but overall they do more harm than good.

"Livestock advocates suggest that water developments, such as troughs and stock ponds, benefit wildlife. While some wild animals undoubtedly use them, these facilities tend to lack adequate surrounding vegetation for hiding cover, nesting habitat, foraging, and other wildlife needs. Thus, these structures are almost useless to most wild species, and they exist at the expense of natural seeps, springs, and streams that would support far more native creatures if left intact."

http://www.publiclandsranching.org/htmlres/wr_myth_benefits.htm

Besides, welfare ranchers didn't pay for those stock tanks----us taxpayers did. If you think the stock tanks are a big help it would be better not to subsidize the welfare ranchers and use a few million bucks each year from all the money we'd save to develop some guzzlers that would be better for wildlife. Then you'd really see some wildlife benefits!!

<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 05-27-2003 20:21: Message edited by: Ithaca 37 ]</font>

 

[Lostagain]

IT sounds more like TEC's idea of closing the public land to ALL human touch, and letting it revert back to its natural state.

 

[Ithaca 37]

Lost, If you believe that you're even dumber than I thought.

 

[Lostagain]

you IT want to get rid of all the extractive industries...... then the sportsmen are next.

 

[Ithaca 37]

Lost, That confirms it!

 

[Lostagain]

All it confirms is=== IT thinks if he has the last word everyone agrees with him.